Weather favoured the ducks
Although duck hunters may be bagging fewer ducks on opening weekend, the birds are in good condition, says Southland Fish & Game boss Zane Moss.
The opening weekend kicked off at 7am on Saturday morning, and thousands of hunters throughout Southland were expected to take part in the annual affair.
The weather was certainly in the favour of the ducks on Saturday with light rain and little wind to hinder them in flight, Moss said.
‘‘If you wanted to pick a weekend to go fishing at sea, it was definitely opening weekend.’’
The number of birds taken by hunters would likely be well down on the last couple of years, Moss said.
Although the birds that were harvested by hunters were in great condition, he said.
Teams of rangers had been out on patrol throughout the province with some assistance from police.
There had been a few issues over the weekend, but the behaviour of most hunters was better than the last three years, Moss said.
This weekend, rangers had seized about a dozen firearms for hunting without a licence or using lead shot.
In general, the duck numbers were down this year because the dry summer had meant there was less food available for the birds, Moss said.
‘‘That’s the price to pay for summer.’’
In the past month though, the rain had improved conditions and birds had put on a lot of condition.
Hunters would appreciate bagging a few birds to put on the table heading into the colder months of winter, he said. While there was a lot of excitement around opening weekend, the real hunting would take place through the season.
While Moss did not have the exact figures for the number of hunting licences sold, he said sales were tracking ahead of the previous year and at least 6000 had been sold.